Tenants in a Bristol apartment building were forced to find new homes after the city said the building would be condemned.

The porch, or what used to be the porch, was the catalyst for the condemnation and the city's building officials said as soon as they started hammering away at it, it started to crumble.

After the porch came down, crews said the porch became the least of their concerns after they got inside of the building.

The apartment building was roach infested, feces covered and water stained, and those were just some of the descriptions building officials used.

More than 20 people inside the 12 units at the Stearns Street apartment were paying more than $600 a month to call the place home.

"There's just about every complaint and every violation that we have, inside that building right now," said Guy Morin, Bristol's building official.

In June, red flags were raised when the rotted, unsteady porch separated from the apartment building.

After multiple attempts to get the landlord, Aaron Cohen, to fix it up, building officials said his indifference pushed them to condemn the building, forcing the renters out and into hotels.

The city is working to help them find permanent housing, and many are still trying to collect hundreds of dollars in security deposits so they can afford to move in somewhere else.

While the uprooted tenants are forced to start all over again, the fight with Cohen isn't over. The conditions inside of the building could be a preview of what it is like inside several others he owns in the city, and Bristol officials said they are threatening possible legal action.

"In almost every property he owns there seems to be an issue that we have to investigate and it's usually a fight to get the work done," Morin added.

Building officials said it is ultimately up to Cohen if he wants to decide to fix up his properties.